Traveling Brothers
by Titania Le Fey
Summary: Taylor and Snake traveling through the US not long after being discharged from the military.
1. Purple Haze

Snake climbed the fire tower stairs slowly. His eye kept glancing down at the base and then over the new terrain that became visible over the trees. Eventually the top came and despite the dizzying height Plissken was rather comfortable. Most of the time the farther Snake was from the ground the better. Though at the moment he was torn between his love of being off the ground and the man below.

He watched Taylor hobble up and sit on the stairs below. The crutches were making everything slow going but Plissken would never leave Taylor behind. He was a friend, more a brother and now all Snake had left of what he might call family. Taylor was the last remnant of the life he had before. Plissken found himself clinging to it with the last shred of his sanity and his ever decreasing humanity.

Slowly he looked up at the landscape as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket. Snake lit it as he scanned the area. First looking to the north where they'd come from then to the other directions. He saved west, the direction he intended on going for last. The sun was low in the west. Only a sliver was peeking over the distant trees. A town or small city lay between the tower and the distance.

Plissken had no issues with cities. He could care less if there were a few people around or a lot. For the most part anymore he ignored everyone with cold indifference. This city though set his jaw. Without signs yet he'd assume it was Cheyenne but he wasn't sure. Where it was didn't matter. What was important at the moment was the rainbow haze that settled over it in the sunlight. Poison gas was colorless but in the rising and setting sun it burned brighter than a box of Crayolas. Snake knew that brilliant haze anywhere. It was even turning purple and orange as the light faded with the setting sun. There was no choice but to go around.

The south didn't look much better. The haze filled the valley as far as he could see both north and south. That left one choice, crossing it. Snake threw his dead cigarette off the side and started back down. After the injury to his eye gas didn't sit well with him. Crazies unnerved him further but he smiled when he got back down to Taylor.

"I think we're on the boarder of Wyoming." Snake commented not sure how to bring up the subject of the looming gas cloud.

"You see anything else up there?" Taylor asked as he started to transverse the uneven ground back to the Hummer.

Snake didn't speak at first while he forced down his own unease with the situation. "The entire valley's filled with gas. Not shit of a way to go around the bullshit either."

Taylor nodded. Though the man didn't like the situation he trusted Snake. They had been friends nearly as long as either could remember and now Taylor depended on Snake for almost everything since the injury to his leg. Taylor got in and set the crutches aside.

"Shouldn't be too bad though. Looks like highway all the way through." Snake commented as he buckled up. It was more to relax himself than Taylor but it likely would do it for both of them. The less time they spent in the gas cloud the better they would both feel about the situation. Snake pulled on his mask and smiled behind it when he saw Taylor in his. After all the years on the front where you wore a mask more often than not, the mask was a comfort. It reminded Snake that this was far less deadly than what he already had been through. 


	2. Stranger Danger

After driving for what seemed like hours, lights off and with as much speed as Snake dared the haze started closing in around the vehicle. Both men bristled and then quickly relaxed. By now this was all old hat for the two veterans. Plissken mused that if one wasn't unnerved by entering a cloud of death they were surely crazy.

The city streets were full of debris. That was a sure sign that this place was infested with the wild-eyed animals that were once humans. American soil had not seen war aside from bombings. It left only one explanation for all the items strewn in the streets. Americans had thrown it there. Crazy Americans to be more specific. Snake didn't much care for that thought especially now that he knew the American government as well as the Russians had dumped gas bombs on American soil. For just a brief second Plissken wondered if this place was in shambles because of the enemy or his own government.

Snake shook the thought and kept driving. The lights down and the subdued purple haze was making him tired. He had been driving most of the day but here wasn't the place to be cat napping.

"You look exhausted." Taylor's voice in the ear piece startled him. Glancing over he shrugged but his companion was right. He was quickly fading.

"Maybe we should stop for a few minutes. Rest your eye."

Snake slowed to a stop among some overturned cars. He could use a few minutes to shut out the blaring light coming through the gas fog. Somehow the poison made sunlight brighter, more vivid, like neon. It put a lot of strain on his one good eye. Plissken shut down the engine and leaned his head back. He didn't have to tell Taylor to watch when he closed his eye. He knew from years of being silent on missions. One rested, someone else watched and you rotated around. Snake figured he'd been on watch the whole time he was driving. It was about time he had just a moment to not be keyed up.

"Snake." The whisper came through the mask and Plissken bolted up from the reclined seat. His eye was wide as it searched the area. His mind was alert, in overdrive. He immediately saw the reason he was disturbed. A group of individuals were heading toward them on the road. They didn't seem totally insane but then again they were walking maskless in the gas. That didn't speak well for their sanity.

Snake motioned for down and Taylor slid to the floorboards even with the cumbersome cast. Words were not needed between the two men. Long ago they had developed hand signals for almost every command imaginable. Snake slipped down under the steering mount and listened. Neither man breathed much as they heard the approach. The external microphone apparatus on the gas masks was always something Snake had appreciated. People sneaking up always sounded like a herd of drunken elephants no matter how quiet they appeared.

Settling in both men watched the shadows dance past the windows. They stopped at the rear of the Hummer. A knowing glance passed and Snake eased his head up on the passenger side of steering column. He could see them and hear them but he couldn't understand what they were doing. The Humvee rocked front to back and suddenly Snake knew.

"Fuck." Plissken was up and in the driver's seat. "They're trying to take the tires."

The vehicle roared to life. Plissken could see the startled faces in the rearview but didn't take the time to contemplate them. He slammed into gear and took off. The tire iron clattered next to him but he didn't slow. Snake switched on the lights, all of them, even the fog lamps. The street burned in crimsons and oranges but not one damned gas crazy individual would be able to tolerate the light.

The idea of being stranded in a gas town without a tire burned out Plissken's nerves. There would be no stopping. Not until this place was far behind. Reaching over he offered Taylor his hand and pulled him into the seat.

"God damn." Taylor commented. "God damn!"

Snake chuckled. He knew that was Taylor's way of expressing fear. Snake himself had been afraid but now they were heading for the clear and both relaxed into the drive again. 


End file.
